


Now you see me

by serenitysolstice



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Fluff, F/F, Guardian Angel AU, Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-17 20:38:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16981416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenitysolstice/pseuds/serenitysolstice
Summary: A Guardian Angel AU courtesy of a prompt blog on Tumblr, writing-prompt-s. Very slow burn thasmin.





	1. A change

**Author's Note:**

> You are an angel; but guardian angels are specifically chosen and assigned to a person. When an irresponsible guardian angel is deprived of their job, you are chosen as their replacement. However, they did quite some damage to the human they were supposed to protect, and now you have to help them through their experiences when they have almost nothing to believe in.

She was happy. Her first proper job! Granted, she’d never actually  _ trained  _ as a guardian, per se, but she’d seen loads of other people do it, so how hard could it be, really? Of course, her ward was a fourteen year old girl, and her guardian angel had introduced themself exactly once according to records, and just never explained anything, nor showed up again and, to top it all off, her ward was currently undergoing pretty heavy bullying, but. That didn’t mean she was unqualified.    
  


Maybe she wasn’t happy so much as excited. Nervous? She’d had no reason to feel much of anything when she worked the pet care industry. Animals were always pleased to see her, and she could spend her last moments with them soothing their anxieties over when their owner would return, or where they might experience another friendly face. It was a good job. Sometimes she missed it. But she was moving up, so she told herself, she was dealing with a human now! If only she knew exactly what she was dealing with…

 

She burst through the front doors of the school dramatically, her enthusiasm dropping just slightly at the lack of witnesses for her entrance.  _ Silly thing,  _ she scolded herself.  _ It’s not like anyone could see you anyway. Humans, so much less observant than puppies.  _ She meandered through the hallways for a time. Her charge, she was sure, would be in a class, and she felt it would be...prudent not to shock her systems so thoroughly as to interrupt her lessons. And besides, she did now have that faint tingling in the back of her head, always pointing towards where her human was at any given moment. 

 

She all but jumped out of her skin when the first door opened, and the corridors filled with very small humans, almost all wearing black or dark blue jackets, some with their hair long, and some with hardly any. She’d always been fascinated with their differences - how a species that was near identical in thoughts and feelings could visually appear so distinct. Much like angels, she mused. She jolted upright, the tingling in her head growing stronger - her ward was getting closer. Turning around, her eyes fell on a rather gangly girl of maybe fourteen, who’s eyes widened as they met hers, and she immediately bolted down the hall, as fast as she could in the throng of students. 

“Wait!” She called out, chasing after the girl. They ended up in a toilet stall, single occupancy. She floated through the door, and leaned against it, eyeing the student cautiously. No one had prepared her for a sobbing teenager. 

“Hi.” She tried. The girl didn’t look up. “You’re Yasmin Khan, aren’t you? My name’s the Doctor, and I’m here to help you.” 

“You’re another one of  _ them  _ aren’t you?” She asked, ignoring her almost completely. “Another  _ angel _ .” The word was said with such vehemence, almost spat, that the Doctor flinched. 

“I...I am, yes. I know this must come as a shock, but-”

“No.” Yasmin muttured, glancing at where the Doctor leaned, hands in her pockets. “I don’t want you here. I don’t need you here. The other one, whatever their name was...they just made everything worse. They  _ ruined  _ me. You’ll do the same. Leave me alone.” And she turned away, silent, though her small frame shook with her sobs. The Doctor just stood there, all but paralysed, her chest aching where her heart would be breaking. If she had one.

 

It seemed this was going to be harder than she thought.


	2. Warmth

The Doctor spent several weeks just following Yasmin around. The teenager pretended at every opportunity to not see the angel, but she knew her presence was felt. She didn’t get involved, she didn’t change anything, she didn’t even speak to her ward. She just...watched. What she was looking for was a better idea of what the girl faced, and how she was dealing with her ‘demons’, as it were. Knowledge, as she’d once confided to a three year old yorkshire terrier, was power. And in this case, knowledge was her only option. 

A pattern of behaviour was quickly noticed. Every morning, Yasmin Khan would wake up at half six, eat a hasty breakfast, and shower. At seven am sharp, she’d sit down at her GCSE textbooks and study, a different subject each day, until she left for school at eight. She sat in tutor alone, she went to classes alone, and she ate lunch alone. At the end of the day, she’d pick up her younger sister from the adjoining primary school, and they’d walk home together. Then, she’d study until tea, study after tea, and go to bed around ten pm. She never spoke out of turn, she rarely spoke if she could avoid it altogether, and after three weeks of following this routine, the most she’d ever heard the teen say was to her when they first met. 

Something had hurt the girl, of that the Doctor was sure. She wouldn’t even be here if that wasn’t true, but she wasn’t learning much more at this point than what her highlighting patterns were for her school notes. She should act right? Talk to Yasmin, at least. Attempt to reestablish some basis of trust for their relationship? The difficult part was how. 

She’d wait until they were alone, she decided. Every Wednesday evening, from about six pm onwards, her parents left to take her sister to football practice. Yasmin remained at home, dutifully studying her way through her subjects. That would be her best moment to start - when no one would overhear the teen talking to herself. 

“Hello again.” She said brightly, into the silence. No response. “I’m worried that perhaps we got off on the wrong foot, before, at your school. I shouldn’t have appeared out of nowhere like that, and I’m sorry.” She waited for any kind of acknowledgement that she’d spoken, and when she received none, she ploughed ahead. “I’m going to continue with the introductory talk, if you don’t mind. I know you will have heard it before, but I feel like bringing it back to the forefront of your mind will help us to improve our relationship.” She was talking too much, and saying too little, she knew she was. Goodness, why were people so  _ difficult _ ? She cleared her throat. 

“Hello there, Yasmin Khan. My name is the Doctor, and I am your assigned Guardian Angel. The organization that I work for believe that you are going through somewhat of a tough time right now, and it is therefore my job to-” She was cut off by a dry chuckle.

“You’ve never done this before, have you?” The words were cold, her voice quiet. The Doctor hesitated. 

“No.” She admitted. “But I know what I’m supposed to do.” She added brightly.

“Oh really?” Yasmin asked, turning in her desk chair to face  her. “And what’s that?” 

“My job is to help you feel better, any means I can.” The teenager raised an eyebrow. 

“‘Feel better’?”

“Yes. Records show that you’re in a bad place at the moment, mentally and emotionally, and I want to help you.” Another harsh bark of laughter. It felt wrong, coming from the mouth of the young girl. 

“Records show? Is that what this is, some sort of quota? ‘Oh, we just want to make everything better for you, so we can tick off this box on your chart and you can go home’?” The Doctor had no response. “God, even your name gets it. The Doctor. Like you just want to fix me.” She exhaled, turning back to her books. “I don’t want your  _ help _ , Doctor. I want to be left alone.” She could almost feel the lie in the girl’s words, but let it stand. She sat herself down in the corner of the room, resting her head on her knees. 

“I don’t think you need fixing.” She murmured softly. Yasmin didn’t respond. “I think that perhaps you just need someone to tell you it’s going to be okay.” The student closed her book suddenly without a word, clambered into bed and turned off her light. 

 

Angels didn’t need to sleep, but they could if they wanted to. So when the Doctor was jolted awake a couple of hours later by a shout, she was ready and raring to help. Yasmin shook violently on the bed, soft whimpers spilling from her lips, and she’d tucked herself into a ball as small as she could at the far side of the mattress. The Doctor rushed to her side, but when she put her hands on the girl, in an attempt to wake her, Yasmin all but screamed, flinching away from the contact.  _ What could she do?  _ She couldn’t wake Yasmin without touching her, and the poor girl obviously didn’t want to be touched. An idea hit her. She got down on her knees beside the bed, closed her eyes and, as gently as she could, put one hand on the mattress. She began to feed the bed with warmth, with light, with her own energy. It was as close as she dared get to touching Yasmin outright. 

Yasmin bolted upright, gasping heavily. The Doctor kept her gaze on the ground, her cheeks warm. She really shouldn’t have done that. 

“Was that...you?” Yasmin whispered, looking down at the angel. “That...light…” The Doctor said nothing, lowering her hand from the bed. She was exhausted - so much of herself she’d just fed into counteracting Yasmin’s nightmare, she just needed to sleep. “Thank you.” The student murmured. She fell back against her pillow. 

“Always...welcome…” The Doctor breathed, too tired to offer up much more in the way of conversation. She slumped to the floor and fell asleep where she lay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on updating this quite so soon, but I know that if I leave it too long, my enthusiasm for the idea might die, and we can't have that, can we?


	3. First impressions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The start of a new week, one of Yaz's classmates comes back after a while away. Yaz isn't too keen to see her again.

The Doctor would be lying if she said that night changed the relationship between her and her ward. Yasmin still rarely spoke, and she refused to acknowledge the angel at all during daylight. But, at night, when her demons (poor choice of words, the Doctor thought with a wince) proved too much for her, the Doctor was there, and she provided comfort to the young girl. Rare was the night when Yasmin needed her aura, but she liked to believe she could carry a tune, and she enjoyed making the brunette smile with her melodies.

And so, time passed. The Doctor helped whenever her ward would allow her, and Yasmin occasionally said a few words to her about her day, or what she was up to. It was never any meaningful conversation, but the Doctor could feel her heart warm at the knowledge that she was beginning to get through to the girl. They could have gone months in this way, barely talking, hardly knowing each other, if not for the day that Izzy Flint returned to school.

The Doctor could tell something was wrong that morning. Yasmin stayed in bed ten minutes after her alarm had gone off, and only got up at the angel’s insistence that she couldn't miss today - they were receiving their English coursework. Without so much as glancing at the Doctor, she dragged herself to the shower, returned and dressed quickly.   
“Is there...something on your mind?” The Doctor asked cautiously. She never could tell how Yaz was going to respond to her at any given moment.

“No.” Came the grunted reply. She was sat on her bed in school uniform, scrolling something on her phone.

“Would you like to talk about it?” The look she received made her wince, and mutter “Okay, okay, not today. I’ll just...I’ll be here. If you need me.” Yasmin nodded, silent, then pushed herself upright and grabbed her backpack. She left without eating breakfast, a first for the usually organised girl.

It wasn’t until the pair had reached Yaz’s tutor room, that the Doctor realised what was going on. Yaz slunk to the back of the room, no eye contact with anyone, no good morning, no nothing. A huge change from the previous week; Yasmin had always seemed a little quiet to the Doctor, but she’d always been polite. It was like she wanted to be as small and unobtrusive as possible, and it caused the Angel to frown. Yasmin had sat down in the far corner right at the back, with the Doctor stood behind her. A girl, who looked to be about Yaz’s age, looked up at them with a grin, and bounded towards their table. The Doctor didn’t recognise her, but Yasmin clearly had, for she shuffled her chair across slightly, and started scribbling on a sheet of paper in front of her nervously.

“Morning Yasmin!” The girl said cheerfully, settling into the seat beside Yaz. “Did ya miss me?” Yaz didn’t answer, or even look up from her paper. “Because I sure missed you! You know, there’s something about a suspension that really puts things into perspective.” The girl went on, and the Doctor’s ears snapped to attention. Suspension? What for? How did Yaz know such a badly behaved girl?

“Go away Izzy.” Yaz muttered. “Leave me alone.” So, they weren’t friends then? The Doctor took a step forwards, aching to put a hand on her charge’s shoulder, aching to take away some of the nerves, the anxiety that came off the poor girl in waves.

“Why, that’s no way to speak to your old friend, is it Yasmin? Surely not one who knows as much as me, and definitely not one you unfairly got into so much trouble.” Yaz stiffened, and finally looked at Izzy. The Doctor felt her heart stop as she caught sight of the look on the girl’s face.

“What do you want from me?” Izzy’s face split into a sickening grin. The Doctor had a feeling she knew who starred in Yaz’s frequent nightmares.

“I only want to go back to playing with you Yaz. Like we used to. Before you got all high and mighty and decided to have me _suspended_.” The last word was hissed at her. Yaz lowered her gaze, and glanced towards where the Doctor stood, her face guilt ridden.

“I didn’t have a choice, it was obvious what had happened!” She whispered, choking back a sob. “I didn’t want to, it's not my fault.”

“Liar!” Izzy spat back, grabbing hold of Yaz’s arm. The brunette whimpered in pain, which brought Izzy’s gaze across the classroom. Nobody had turned to look. The Doctor’s blood boiled - she longed to slap the girl in front of her, or to fill her with the pain she was causing Yaz, or to at least get her away from her ward. But she could do nothing, could say nothing. She wasn’t allowed to interfere. “You could have lied. You could have pretended to fall, you could have said nothing, you could have ‘tripped’ down those stairs. Instead, look what happened. You get a cushy, easy pass for a test you deserved to fail, while I get suspended for four months. And it's all your fault.”

“What do you want me to to?” Yaz said under her breath. The Doctor knew she was fighting to hide her sob, because she’d heard it all before, when she sang the poor girl to sleep. Her fists clenched.

“Easy. You're going to make it up to me. And if you don’t,” Izzy’s voice darkened, and she leaned towards Yasmin. “I will utterly destroy you. Understand?” Yaz nodded and Izzy let go of her arm with a sweet smile. “See you in maths, Yaz!”


	4. The arms of an angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor breaks the rules for Yaz, and Izzy Flint is a terrible person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all had a happy holiday season! Thought I'd get back into the writing with a nice, light chapter so...uh...I wrote this instead :/   
> I promise this isn't all angst though!

The Doctor didn’t say a word to Yaz that school day. Not when she scribbled over the back of her English book, instead of paying attention to her teacher. Not when she bunked off the campus to eat lunch in a nearby park, alone. And not when Maths came along at.the end of the day, and Izzy sat herself next to her ward.

Not for the lack of inclination, because inside she burned to help the young teenager whose life she was supposed to be safe guarding. No, she ‘wasn't allowed’ to interfere directly, and though the Doctor had never broken a rule before, she was just itching to go. Instead, as Izzy Flint spent a full hour poking Yaz, hiding her calculator and whispering things that the Doctor could barely hear, and hurt her heart to have to listen to, she stood slightly behind the girl in her care, one hand on her shoulder, feeding the teenager what warmth she had. Even angels couldn't be happy forever, and Izzy Flint was doing an excellent job in leeching all her goodwill and kindness.

They made it through the hour without major incident, though the Doctor did notice, eyes narrowed, that Izzy immediately passed her homework on to Yaz, who dutifully picked it up and packed it away with her own. She waited a few minutes, til the rest of her class filed out, then followed at the back, the Doctor only a foot or so behind her.

Izzy was waiting for them outside the building.

“I thought we could walk home together!” The red head said, grinning. “You know, since I've been away for so long, there must be a lot to catch up on!” Yaz kept walking, no attempt made to stop the bully from falling into step beside her. “I had a lot of time to think, you know. At home, nothing to do, day after day. Four months is a long time.” Yaz said nothing, didn't even turn around. The Doctor longed to know what she was thinking, how she was coping, but there was nothing she could do but watch, and listen. Again, her blood boiled. “Do you know what I spent four months thinking about?” Izzy asked. Yaz shrugged.

“What?” She sighed, voice flat, distant.

“Where it all went wrong.” Izzy replied. Yaz stopped walking, looked at the other girl properly for the first time since their tutorial that morning.

“What do you mean?”

“How I ended up suspended. What turned our friendship into this. I got pretty introspective in those months, you'd have been proud.” The Doctor frowned, longing to see Yasmin’s face, to find out what was going on in her head.

“And what was your conclusion?” There was no hope in that voice, just quiet expectation. It seemed obvious to the Doctor that Izzy had no intention of changing her behaviour, and she was glad to see Yaz thinking along the same lines.

“Oh, that was easy. I remembered that it's all. Your. Fault.” She punctuated each word with a shove to the brunette’s chest, the final one sending her sprawling to the ground. “You did this Yasmin, you ruined us, and you deserve everything that has ever happened to you. And everything that ever will.” As Yaz attempted to sit up, clutching the back of her head, a swift kick to her stomach had her crying out. Laughing, Izzy turned away, walking up the road to join the throng of other school kids.

It was only after the last few stragglers had past them, glancing over their shoulders and whispering, that the Doctor could crouch down beside the teen.

“Oh Yaz,” she murmured, running her fingers through the teenager’s hair, damp from the ground. “I'm so so sorry. I'm sorry this has happened to you.” At the angel’s soft, whispered words, Yaz broke down again.

“I-I-I’m sorry.” She got out over her sobs, clutching the angel tightly. “I d-d-d-didn’t want to go back to how it was before, I j-just wanted her to leave me alone.”

“Shhhhh, it's okay. It's not your fault. I've got you.” She kept murmuring against brown hair, only half aware of what she was saying. Her mind, usually overflowing with a thousand and one ideas, had a clarity she'd never felt before. She wondered what it meant.

But first things first. The wounded, scared schoolgirl in her arms had stopped crying.

“Okay, Yasmin, do you think you can stand up for me? I just want to take a look at the damage.” A hesitation, a nod. Yaz stood on shaky legs, while the Doctor pressed a hand gingerly to her belly. She winced.

“‘is sore.” The brunette muttered, swaying slightly. The Doctor looked up, frowning.

“Is everything okay?” She asked. Her ward was pale, clammy, unfocused. She remembered the impact the girl had made with the Tarmac.

“Perfect.” Yasmin replied grinning. Then she vomited over the side of the road.

“Ah. Concussed.” She grabbed hold of the schoolgirl, and helped her straighten up. There was surely no way the terms of her job meant she wasn't allowed to help a child like this, was there? The Doctor decided she didn’t care. Manifesting physically for the first time since she met Yaz, the Doctor picked up the brunette, and carried her home as quickly as she could. The thought hit her, and before she took another step, she pulled out Yaz’s mobile and texted her younger sister.

_Extra revision class. Will be staying late. Y x_

It wasn’t the first time Yaz had spent extra time after school, and she hoped Sonya wouldn’t notice something was up. The guilt at the lie coiled in her belly, but as she adjusted the girl in her arms, the feeling tripled.

“I should have interfered.” She muttered to the barely conscious Yaz. “On, no, do ‘t you fall asleep. I may not be human but I know enough about you lot.” She jostled the teen, who’s eyes focused on her face.

“‘m sleepy.” She moaned, her gaze sliding off the angel once more. “Jus’ a quick nap.”

“Don’t you dare.” The Doctor warned, shaking her arms again. “Yasmin Khan, tell me everything you know about how electricity is produced.” Yaz pulled a face, but dutifully listed off everything she could remember.

The Doctor got her home, and in bed with a bag of peas pressed against her head, and another against her stomach. After asserting that Yaz wasn't going to hurt herself further, or throw up again, the Doctor begrudgingly let her fall asleep. The rest of the Khans still hadn't gotten home. The angel checked over her injuries while she slept, tongue between her teeth, a scowl on her face. This was her fault, there was no getting around that. She should have said something, done something, to scare off Izzy Flint. It would have been easy too - one touch on the shoulder, fill the bully with everything she knew Yaz must have been feeling, and off she'd ran. 

She breathed a sigh of relief - nothing broken, no serious injuries beyond some colourful bruising. No thanks to her. She faked another couple of texts, this time to Yaz's parents, to convince them that Yaz had already eaten and needed to be left alone for the night. The least the Doctor could offer the teenager, if not the genuine protection of a real guardian angel, was a good night's sleep uninterrupted.


End file.
